Japanese citizens' behavioral changes and preparedness against COVID-19: An online survey during the early phase of the pandemic

  1. Kaori Muto
  2. Isamu Yamamoto
  3. Miwako Nagasu
  4. Mikihito Tanaka
  5. Koji Wada

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Abstract

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  1. Version published to 10.1371/journal.pone.0234292
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.03.31.20048876: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementConsent: All survey participants gave consent to participate in the anonymous online survey by MACROMILL INC.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variableFrom a pool of approximately 1.2 million registered individuals residing in Japan, we recruited a total of 11,342 males and females aged from 20 to 64 years.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Data analysis: We analyzed the data using STATA/MP version 16.0 for Mac (StataCorp, College Station, TX, United States).
    STATA/MP
    suggested: None
    StataCorp
    suggested: (Stata, RRID:SCR_012763)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    It is notable that approximately 65 percent of the participants support stricter countermeasures, such as limitation of movement. As we mentioned in the introduction, as of yet, the government has not made stay-at-home orders mandatory and it has not offered financial aid to those affected by such measures. The current requests from central/local governments are not legally binding and people/businesses have to arrange financial compensation independent of the government. We should observe how effective these measures are in Japan over the long term. There are several limitations to this study. First, the data were self-reported, and participants’ actual behaviors have not been observed. Second, the sample was not collected based on random sampling. Quota sampling ensured a similar distribution to the Japanese population among demographic groups (gender, age and work status), but the sample within each group does not necessarily reflect the population. Third, we obtained this dataset at the end of March 2020, when the infection is not explosively widespread in Japan. This study should be reanalyzed after the COVID-19 pandemic comes to an end.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2020.03.31.20048876v1 on medRxiv